A former employee’s retaliation claim against her employer was dismissed as untimely despite arguments that the statute of limitations under the Virginia Whistleblower Protection Law, or VWPL, accrued on her last day of work, rather than the day she was ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a woman filed a class action complaint alleging a company violated federal and Virginia telemarketing rules, but there were already two putative class actions pending in Maryland federal court against the same defendant, raising the same allegations and seeking ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a subcontractor sued an employer after the employer refused to intervene in a dispute between the subcontractor and general contractor, the employer’s motion to dismiss was granted. The subcontractor failed to identify a single provision of statute or federal ...

Tagged with: Contract Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a doctor was told in August 2021 that her employment was ending, but she waited until December 2022 before she asserted a claim under the Virginia Whistleblower Protection Law, her claim was barred by the one-year statute of limitations. ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the magistrate judge deferred to the interpretation of “managers or supervisors” made by the Department of Labor, or DOL, it did not err. The terms are ambiguous and the DOL’s interpretation wasn’t unreasonable. Background Garrett Hoffman alleges that Bear ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a woman alleged that her limited-term employment ended because of her pregnancy, but the record showed that there wasn’t enough work to justify her continued employment, the employer prevailed on her discrimination and retaliation claims. Background Allison Blanchard filed ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where an insurer denied a man’s application for long-term disability benefits, but it failed to consider the risk of future harm that he would suffer were he to return to his high stress work environment, it abused its discretion. Background ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a detainee alleged that officials had a patten of cancelling weekly meetings and special events of his NGE religion, while allowing other religious events to proceed, his equal protection and free exercise claims survived their early motion for summary ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The theft of more than $170,000 worth of cryptocurrency wasn’t a “direct physical loss” covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy, according to the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge T.S. Ellis III wasn’t surprised that the parties couldn’t cite any Virginia ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a homeowner’s policy required a “direct physical loss,” the theft of cryptocurrency was not covered. Cryptocurrency, by its nature, exists only virtually or digitally and has no physical or tangible existence. Background According to the amended complaint, on Dec. ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge T.S. Ellis III U.S. District Court - Eastern District